Search dance music

Review: Johannes Kolter is Kolter, an artist formerly known as DJOKO, and now a hotly tipped breaks and garage head who has already got plenty of attention. Here though he makes a grand and widescreen statement with the first release on the all-new Pilot label. It is a stylish and adventurous record with plenty of killer cuts from the downbeat hip hop opener to the deep house delights of 'Journey' via the elastic and energetic future house kicks of 'Roboflow.' Showcasing both a knack for well craft synths and expert drum programming precisions, this record plays out like a mini DJ set with all the twists and turns you need to keep you on your toes and fully engaged.

Review: It's arriving a little late, given the Summer Solstice was late-June, but when an electronic compilation is as strong as this you can forgive the little things. Fittingly, this is a very UK sounding affair, with some tracks almost feeling like Bob Moog has walked into a maypole dance in some strange corner of the British Isles where detectives go missing. On the whole, though, things are much deeper and cosmic, which is where the whole celestial link clearly comes from.

To call it all ambient would be pretty reductive, but the label is useful for much of what's here. In actual fact the collection spans strange downtempo broken beats ('And They Named Him When The Sun Stands Still'), building grooves ('Throbbing Motor Lifeforms'), hypnotic drone ('All of Us Under The Sun') and atmospheric ethereality ('Heralding the Dawn').

Review: British psychedelic rock band Dark released their debut album Dark Round The Edges in 1972 and put out several more until the late 70s. Steve Giles was the man responsible for forming the group while still at school in Northampton in 1968. He took care of the design, photography and production as well as playing lead guitar and providing vocals alongside Martin Weaver on guitar, Alan Bowley engineering and Ron Johnson on bass. Their well-honed live sound transferred well to record when they head into SIS Studios to record the bulk of their work. Melodic prog rock licks, fuzzy guitar riffs and angular drums define much of this collection.

Review: Multidisciplinary artist Fatima Al Qadiri aligns with Hyperdub to release Asiatisch, a keenly anticipated debut album that's described as a "simulated road trip through an imagined China". First coming to prominence on the UNO label in 2011, Al Qadiri has subsequently provoked critical acclaim for the 2012 Desert Strike EP for Fade To Mind that played on her time spent living in Kuwait as a child, while her work under the Ayshay moniker for Tri Angle explored vocals in a unique manner. Asiatisch expands on the political themes of Desert Strike in a new and unexpected way, and acts as a homage to the style of grime known as "sinogrime". Asian motifs and melodies are prominent throughout whilst conceptually Al Qadiri runs through "the fantasies of east Asia as refracted through pulpy Western pop culture". If that wasn't enough to sell you on the concept, opening track "Shanzhai" is a "nonsensical Mandarin" language cover of Sinead O'Connor's "Nothing Compares 2 U".

Review: Nobody ever comes out and says "you have to spend three days living in a yurt in the Welsh wilderness to make a good album", but clearly the move can help your efforts. Just add some analogue and digital synths, and a thought process in line with that of Lucie st?pankova (AKA Avsluta) and Christian Duka, here working together for the first time under the name Vadin.

What a murky world they lure us into. From the chilling opening moments on 'The Seven Laws', all moorland whispers in the digital mist, through the warbling sci-fi consoles of 'Merging' and the tribalistic ritualism that seems to drive 'Sufi Trance', it's as wild as the conditions it was made in, and as transcendent as that experience will have been for the pair involved.

Review: It could not get much more late-1960s into early-1970s folk rock if it tried. Band name: Rainbird. Album title: Maiden Flight. General vibe: somewhere between a psychedelic ultraworld, late night blues basement and trip to a remote island to join an off-grid community. Painting quite a vivid picture there, admittedly, this 1971 rarity proves exactly why contemporary musicians can try to emulate this era but will never truly recreate it. Simply put, it's impossible to commit in the same way today. Rant and questionable point aside, Rainbird's uncovered gem is an epic masterpiece in no uncertain terms. From the wistful croonerdom of 'Stormdance (Part 1)' and its Wurlitzer powered chaotic seizure follow up l ('Stormdance (Part 2)'), to the lead guitar solo mastery of 'Man On the Mountain' and the quiet, reflective journeyman stuff on 'Sailboat', it manages to include every totem of this scene, without sounding cliched.

Review: Gail Laughton's Harps of the Ancient Temples was originally released in 1969 and now gets a proper reissue job courtesy of Pleasure For Music. It is a stunning piece of work from the American jazz harpist who has scored many films and cartoons during his time working in Hollywood. the record was produced by the sound engineer Paul Beaver who is said to be the dude who introduced the Moog to Stevie Wonder and Frank Zappa. Alway, the sound here manages to be both classical and space age, retro yet futuristic, with the shimmering, ethereal quality of the harp impossible to ignore.

Review: UK label ANA serve up this debut album from a mysterious outfit known as Oyl. The music is just as mysterious and experimental and takes you on an introspective journey. Made on a collection of hardware amongst other bits, the record has oversized 808 bass sounds, dripping water effects, intricate sound designs and bit-crushed pads that make for dynamic tracks always on the move. The mood is often dark and dank, with abstract moments and an overtone of psychedelia that takes you into a whole new world of sound.

Review: Jah Thomas's Shoulder Move dropped in 1983 and was one of some 200-plus released the veteran Jamaican producer and Midnight Rock label was involved with in a career that spanned from 1978 to the present day. He worked with legends like King Tubby, The Roots Radic Band, Scientist and plenty more but head up this one alone. His deadpan vocal style is rhythmic and compelling as he rides the stripped-back dub rhythms below through the nine superb cuts on this newly reissued record. It's pure reggae and it really hits the spot.

Review: It was probably easy to come up with a catchier title for this collection of treasured recordings from one of the 20th Century's greatest lost talents. But like everything Buckley and music, ease isn't really part of the story, that is unless you're referencing the pure bliss of listening to this legend's voice, which is as easy on the ear as you could ask for.

Comprising tracks that were originally captured for broadcast, they reveal the very essence of what Buckley was about. Heartfelt, open-veined songs that grasp the human condition in astute swoops, by this point in his career the folk and Americana signatures had merged with jazz and abstract elements, presenting an image of a restless artist determined to keep exploring. It's been said before, but we will reiterate; had it not been for the tragic overdose a year after the OGWT recording featured here, we can only imagine where his oeuvre would have ended up.

Review: Two years ago, the fabulously named DJ F16 Falcon debuted with a seven-inch single that pulled dub in twisted new directions. There's a similarly oddball feel to the up-and=coming French producer's first mini-album, a seven-track selection in which pitched-down, dancehall-influenced rhythms and mutant dub grooves are cannily combined with vibrant, Pilotwings style Balearic synths and other ear-pleasing, retro-futurist sounds. Our picks include sleazy opener 'You Make Me Feel So Good', the Tolouse Low Trax-goes-synth-funk eccentricity of 'Love Blow Dem 40', the feverish downtempo creepiness of '1Tension' and the deliciously immersive, loved-up bliss of 'Would You Like To'.

Review: The acclaimed Kito Jempere joins Cherrystones and DJN4 on the label for 2020, with an album full of international minds. Working with array of collaborators across a cast of friends including Jimi Tenor, Wolfram, Hard Ton, Lipelis, Rich Thair (Red Snapper), Ruf Dug, Cedric Gasaida (Azari & III) and many more, presenting this, his third long play.

A hail of freedom of thoughts and voices before these changed times, recorded and shared across continents. Kito - following releases with DFA, Lo Recordings, Bordello A Parigi, Hell Yeah and Duca Bianco - acts as curator rather than conductor, the idea not to transform the contributions but allow them absolute.

Sending music and receiving back, nothing was touched to keep the truth and honour. From Tokyo to London, Berlin to his base in St Petersburg, trusting the chosen artists led to a broad palette, as his 4/4 driven funk expands with Jazz horns to Motorik percussion, Avant-Reich vocals to White Isle melodies, J Pop Balearics to Chanson stories wrapped around Club memories.

A true world meeting, crossing borders and genres. An eye on the dance floor and week long chill outs. With remixes from the likes of Samo DJ, Lipelis, Cable Toy and more to follow, this is more than Yet Another Kito Jempere Album.

Review: Since its inception, Shifted's Avian imprint has gone from being a murderous, straight-laced techno imprint to what has now become a source for some of the best and most multi-faceted industrial music from the European quarters. We're not sure of Verge's true identity; it could either be one of the label's existing artists, the mysterious Shifted himself, or even an artist like Blawan riding incognito (don't quote us on that, though!) Solitary and crest-fallen, this magnetic collection of tunes feed off one another with utter ease and simplicity. They're not merely a selection of sound experiments but rather a unitary cloud of sonics which leave the listener with a powerful mental image. The feeling of dusk, the water dropping off the leaves, the cold breeze of Autumn. This is a blinding foray into the darkest corners of contemporary industrial experimentation.

Review: Some sonic communities grow even in isolation, in the lonely obsessive moments in the studio as time melts away. Deep inside the Detroit Underground nests a Berlin underground, chasing those resonant shared sounds. DU Berlin draws together some of that love felt through music in the German capital. It's not the wild city of reunification or *Berlin Calling* or tourist-style movies or the easyJet set. This is the side of the city that endlessly romances machines for the sheer joy of it, as The Allegorist titles her track, "until dawn." And with some big names and emerging, ranging from mainstays to veteran agitators, the Berlin DU crew have telegraphed each other through productions and mutual inspiration. The results vibrate and rumble with sympathetic frequencies, but never limited to grayscale or dithered palettes.

Review: Rubicon marks the first physical edition of Galcher Lustwerk's driving-themed alias, Road Hog. Collecting tracks from seven releases spanning from 2014 to 2021, Rubicon serves as the project's Greatest Hits (for now). Including tracks from the Cleveland-dedicated album 'Tour De Hog' as well as the sharp toothed 'Spares' and 'More Spares' the pithy 'Haul Ass' plus some cinematic favorites from 'DWB' and 'On The Lam'. Originally meant to be digital only and listened to while driving, demand for certain tunes to be pressed to vinyl has risen with each release. From the Road to the Club, Lustwerk's got you covered.

Review: Tsampikos Fronas is June, and on this fresh new LP for Artificial Dance he rather sips away from the dance sounds of his earlier career. The material here was recorded between 2018 and 2020 by the Berlin based innovator and it is an exploration of more sparse soundscapes than previously. It has a cyber punk feel and dystopian overtone with each track filled with tension and plenty of nods to sci-fi movie soundtracks. It is all crafted from analogue sequencers and analogue polyphonic synths as well as modular synthesizers which lend it an ice cold rhythm and haunting sense of futurism.

Review: Recorded at Channel One Recording Studio in Kingston Jamaica and featuring the one and only Sly and Robbie, Innocent Lover was a 1979 classic from Trevor Hartley. Phil Pratt took care of the production and Tommy McCook and Ansel Collins also line-up on what is a super smooth selection of reggae rollers. The production is earthy and organic, with subtle effects fleshing out rach instrumental as Hartley's buttery vocals ring out up top, mostly musing on themes of love, romance and heartbreak.

Review: SUED co-pilot SW offers up a six track MyDefinition of techno on Kalahari Oyster Cult that is utterly fresh. He starts with dubbed out rhythms and percolating percussion before getting tripped out and break-y on 'Moonnewso On', with its alien effects and squelchy bass. 'Goiossee' is another slow motion braindance the 'Massless' recalls the early work of Two Loneswordsmen. There are hectic rhythms and wild detuned chords tumbling all over the place on 'J JustMUST4y' before closing salvo 'VFXpeaksTWIN' is an ambient piece pairing church chords with breaking waves. Weird and wonderful.

Review: Kabala Records label head Manuel Kabala is back on his own imprint with a new record that leads you into intriguing alternative dimensions. It follows on from his well-received debut Polaris as he further explores spirit, mind, jazz, blues, frenzied rhythm and electric invention. Some tracks are airy and shuffling broken beat pieces like 'Dancing In The Morning' with its lush cosmic chords, others are late night and zoned out cuts like 'Japanese Subway' and the likes of 'Colorful Samba' does just what it says in the title. An expansive, expressive record from an artist who has really found his voice.

Review: While punk imprint-turned-electro and bass outfit Bunker Records specialises in 'dark electronic music for mutants' (as they put it), the Den Haag-based imprint is not averse to offering up oddball excursions and releases that are formidably hard to pigeonhole. We perhaps shouldn't be too surprised, then, to find them offering up a first label outing from Lunatika, a trap and drill rapper from the Hague whose Split Second Origins Part 1 LP is restlessly brilliant and impossible to describe. His raps - sometimes doused in auto-tune - are a constant, as is a lo-fi sound that pushes booming basslines and lo-fi beats to the fore. Bolted onto this framework are nods to mutant hip-hop, chopped and screwed R&B, dub, UK bass and his beloved drill and trap.

Review: Planet Mu, despite its advancing years, remains right at the cutting edge of electronic music. Its releases are never less that boundary nudging and constantly moving with the times. Back with a new album after Hyper Flux in 2017 did so well, Herva experiments with homemade hardware on this record. For it, he managed to build a "point-to-point mixer from scratch" and as such moves away from sample based music here. It is a thrilling conception that draws form IDM, electronics and its very own rule book when it comes to rhythms, timbre and texture. Mind being stuff for sure.

Review: New Zealand's Strangelove crew serves up this brilliantly wide-eyed and genre non-specific album from CCCVVV to take you back to warmer days as winter really hits. The Brussels based duo of Clara Vellin and soFa Elsewhere have a retro-future take on electronic music that takes in slow motion sounds, comforting ambient bliss, lush downtempo instrumentals and plenty in the weird and wonderful spaces in between all that. There are decidedly cosmic affairs like 'Generationen' with its lush chords and pillowy pads, and more sun-kissed and beachy pieces like 'Bacin Bacetto' with its gently breaking waves.